OOMD VIVA Questions

What are traditional development methodologies?

Most traditional development methodologies are either algorithm centric or data centric.
In an algorithmic centric methodology, you think of an algorithm that can accomplish the
task, and then build data structures for that algorithm to use.
In data centric methodology, you think how to structure the data, and then build
algorithms around that structure.
What is Object Oriented development methodology?
In object oriented environment, software is a collection of discrete objects that
encapsulate their data and the functionality to model the real world objects. The object
oriented life cycle encourages a view of the world as a system of cooperative and
collaborating agents.
Define an object.
An object is an instance of a class. An object is the combination of data and logic that
represents some real world entity. An object has identity, state, and behavior.
What is a class?
A group of objects having common structure and behavior is called a class. A class is also
called an object template from which objects can be created.
Classes are important mechanism for classifying objects.
What is a method?
In the object model, object behavior is described in methods or procedures. Basically a
method is a function or procedure that is defined for a class. Methods encapsulate the
behavior of the object, provide interfaces to the object, and hide any of the internal
structures and states maintained by the object.
Methods are similar to functions, procedures, or subroutines in more traditional
programming languages, such as COBOL, Basic or C.
How messages are different from methods?
Messages essentially are non-specific function calls. A message is different from a
subroutine call, since different objects can responds to same message in different ways.
A message differs from function in that a function says how to do something and message
says what to do.
What is the distinction between traditional development methodologies and object
oriented development methodologies?
Traditional approach focuses on functions of the system where as object oriented
approach centers on object which is the combination of data and functionality.
What are the advantages of object oriented approach?
a)Higher levels of abstraction
b)Seamless transition among different phases of software development

c)Encouragement of good programming techniques

d)Promotion of reusability
What is Unified Approach(UA)?
UA is based on methodologies by Booch, Rumbaugh,and Jacobson which combines best
practices, processes, and guidelines along with OMGs Unified Modeling
Language(UML)
What is the heart of UA?
The heart of UA is Jacobsons Use case. The use case represents a typical interaction
between a user and a computer system to capture the users goals and needs.
What is class hierarchy?
An OO system organizes classes into a super class-subclass hierarchy. At the top of the
class hierarch are the most general classes and at the bottom are the most specific.
A subclass inherits all of the properties and methods (procedures) defined in its super
class. Subclasses usually add new methods and properties specific to that class.
Subclasses may refine or constrain the state and behavior inherited from its super class.
What is inheritance?
Inheritance is the property of OO systems that allows objects to be built from other
objects. Inheritance is a relationship between classes where one class is the parent class
of another (derived) class. The parent class is also known as the base class or super class.
What is Polymorphism?
Poly means many and morph means form. Polymorphism means the same operation
may behave differently on different classes.
What is association?
Association represents the relationship between objects and classes.
What is multiple inheritance?
When one class inherits its state (attributes) and behavior from more
than one super class, it is referred to as multiple inheritances.
What is dynamic binding?
The process of determining (dynamically) at run time which functions
to invoke is termed dynamic binding.
What is static binding?
The process of determining at compile time which functions to invoke
is termed static binding.
Write the four quality measures for software development?
Correspondence, correctness, verification, and validation.

What is object persistence?

Objects have life time. They are created and can exist for a period of
time.
A file or a database can provide support for objects having a longer life
time longer than the duration of the process for which they were
created. This characteristic is called object persistence.
What is cardinality?
Cardinality specifies how many instances of one class may relate to a
single instance of an associated class.
What is a formal class or abstract class?
Formal or abstract classes have no instances but define the common
behaviors that can be inherited by more specific classes.
What is a meta-class?
A meta-class is a class about a class. They are normally used to
provide instance variables and operations.
Define Encapsulation?
Encapsulation is the process of compartmentalizing the elements of an
abstraction that constitute its structure and behavior.
What is the need of an Object diagram?
An object diagram is used to show the existence of objects and their
relationships in the logical design of a system.
Explain object relationship and associations.
a. Association represents the relationships between objects and classes.
b. Associations are bidirectional.
c. Cardinality specifies how many instances of one class may relate to a single
instance of an associated class.
d. Cardinality constraints the number of related objects and often is described as
being one or many
Define collaboration.
The object-oriented programming community has adopted use-cases to a remarkable
degree. Scenarios are a great way of examining who does what in the interactions among
objects and what role they play; that is their interrelationships. This intersection among
objects roles to achieve a given goal is called collaboration.
Why do we go for object oriented systems development?
The motivation factor behind object-oriented system development is the desire to make
software development easier and more natural by raising the level of abstraction to the
point where the level of abstraction to the point where applications can be implemented
in the same terms n which they are described by users.

Write about the four phases in OMT?

OMT consists of four phases. They are
Analysis-The results are objects and dynamic & functional models.
System design-The results are a structure of the basic architecture of the system along
with high-level strategy decisions.
Object Design-Produces a design document, consisting of detailed objects static,
dynamic and functional models
Implementation-This activity produces reusable, extendible, robust code.
What do you mean by object diagram?
The object model of OMT is represented graphically with an object diagram. The object
diagram contains classes interconnected by association lines. Each class represents a set
of individual objects. The association lines establish relationships among the classes.
Each association line represents a set of links from the objects o f one class to the objects
of another class
What are the diagrams used in Booch methodology?
The Booch methodology consists of the following diagrams:
Class diagrams.
Object diagrams.
State transition diagrams.
Module diagrams.
Process diagrams.
Interaction diagrams
Give the steps involved in Macro development process in Booch methodology.
The macro development process consists of the following steps:
o Conceptualization
Establish the core requirements and develop a prototype.
o Analysis and development of the model
Use the class diagram to describe the roles and responsibilities of
objects. Use the object diagram to describe the desired behavior of
the system.
o Design or create the system architecture.
Use the class diagram to decide what classes exist and how they
relate to each other, the object diagram to decide what mechanisms
are used, the module diagram to map out where each class and
object should be declared, and the process diagram to determine to
which processor to allocate a process.
o Evolution or implementationRefine the system through much iteration.
o Maintenance-Make localized changes to the system to add new
requirements and eliminate bugs.
Give the steps involved in Micro development process in Booch methodology.

The micro process is a description of the day-to-day activities by a single or small group
of software developers. It consists of the following steps.
o Identify classes and objects.
o Identify class and object semantics.
o Identify class and object relationships.
Write briefly about Use Cases.
Use cases are scenarios for understanding system requirements. A use case is an
interaction between users and a system. The use-case model captures the goal of the user
and the responsibility of the system to its users. The use-case model employs extends and
uses relationships. The use cases are described as one of the following:
Nonformal text with no clear flow of events
Text with a clear flow of events
Formal style using pseudo code.
Define patterns.
Design pattern identifies the key aspects of a common design structure that makes it
useful for creating a reusable object-oriented design. Furthermore, it identifies the
participating classes and instances, their roles and collaborations, and the distribution of
responsibilities. It describes when it applies, whether it can be applied in view of other
design constraints and the consequences and trade-offs of its use.
A pattern is an instructive information that captures the essential structure and insight of a
successful family of proven solutions to a recurring problem that arises within a certain
context and system of forces.
Define frame work. Give the differences between design patterns and frameworks.
A frame work is a way of presenting a generic solution to a problem that can be applied
to all levels in a development. Frameworks are a way of delivering application
development patterns. A framework provides architectural guidance, captures the design
decisions that are common to its application domain and thus emphasize design reuse
over code reuse. The major differences between design patterns and frameworks are as
follows:
A framework is executable software whereas design patterns represent
knowledge and experience about the software.
Design patterns are more abstract than frameworks.
Design patterns are smaller architectural elements than frameworks.
Design patterns are less specialized than frameworks.
Define model. Explain about the types of model.
A model is an abstract representation of a system, constructed to understand the system
prior to building or modifying it. It is a model of a simplified representation of reality.
Models can represent static or dynamic situations.
Static model
o It can be viewed as a snapshot of a systems parameters at rest or a specific
point in time. They are needed to represent the structural or static aspect of a
system. The UML class diagram is an example of static model.

 Dynamic model
o It can be viewed as a collection of procedures or behaviors that taken together
reflect the behavior of a system over time. Dynamic modeling is the most useful
during the design and implementation phases of the system development. The
UML interaction diagrams and activity models are examples of dynamic models.
What are the advantages of Modeling?
Good models are essential for communication among project teams. As the complexity of
systems increases, so does the importance of good modeling techniques. Some of the
advantages are as follows:
Models make it easier to express complex ideas.
The main reason for modeling is to reduction of complexity.
Models enhance and reinforce learning and training.
The cost of modeling analysis is much lower than the cost of similar
perimentation conducted in real system.
Manipulation of the model is much easier.
Give the nine UML graphical diagrams.
a. Class diagram(static)
b. Use-case diagram
c. Behavior diagram(dynamic)
i. Interaction diagram
1. Sequence diagram
2. Collaboration diagram
ii. State chart diagram
iii. Activity diagram
d. Implementation diagram.
i. Component diagram
ii. Deployment diagram.
What is a Package?
A package groups and manages the modeling elements, such as classes, their
associations, and their structures. Packages themselves may be nested within other
packages.
Define use-case.
Use cases are scenarios that describe how actors use the system. A use case is an
interaction between users and a system. It captures the goal of the users and the
responsibility of the system to its users. Jacobsons definition of use case is, A use case
is a sequence of transactions in a system whose task is to yield results of measurable
value to an individual actor of the system.
When extends association is used?
The extends association is used when you have one use case that is similar to another
use case but does a bit more or is more specialized. It is like a subclass. Extends
association is utilized to expand the common behavior to fit the special circumstances.

Define uses association.

The uses association occurs when some of the use cases have subflows in common. Here
to avoid describing a subflow more than once in several use cases, the common subflow
can be extracted and made into a new use case of its own.
The relationship among the other use cases and this new extracted use case is called a
uses association. When you want to share common sequences in several use cases, utilize
the uses association by extracting common sequences into a new, shared use case. The
uses association helps us to avoid redundancy by allowing a use case to be shared.
What is CRC?
Classes, responsibilities, and collaborators is a technique used for identifying classes
responsibilities, and collaborators and therefore their attributes and methods.
Furthermore, CRC can help us identify classes. CRC is based on the idea that an object
either can accomplish a certain responsibility itself or it may require the assistance of
other objects.
Why do we need to identify the systems responsibilities?
We need to identify the systems responsibilities because responsibilities identify
problems that are to be solved. A responsibility serves as a handle for discussing potential
solutions. Once the systems responsibilities are understood we can start identifying the
attributes of the systems classes.
What do you mean by coupling?
Coupling is a measure of the strength of association established by a connection from one
object or software component to another. Coupling is a binary relationship. For example
A is coupled with B. Coupling is important when evaluating a design because it helps us
focus on an important issue in design.
What do you mean by degree of coupling?
The degree of coupling is a function of How complicated the connection is. Whether the
connection refers to the object itself or something inside it. What is being sent or
received. The degree or strength of coupling between two components is measured by the
amount and complexity of information transmitted between them. Coupling increases
with increasing complexity and decreases when the connection is to the component
interface rather than to an internal component. Coupling is also lower for data
connections than for control connections.
What are the two types of coupling?
Object oriented design has two types of coupling. They are,
Interaction coupling
Interaction coupling involves the amount and complexity of messages between
components. It is desirable to have little interaction.
_ Inheritance coupling
Inheritance is a form of coupling between super and subclasses. A subclass is
coupled to its super class in terms of attributes and methods.

Unlike interaction coupling, high inheritance coupling is desirable.

What do you mean by cohesion? Give the types of cohesion.
Cohesion can be defined as the interactions within a single object or software component.
Cohesion reflects the single-purpose ness of an object. Cohesion helps in designing
classes that have very specific goals and clearly defined purposes.
Method cohesion
A method should carry only one function.
Class cohesion
All the classs methods and attributes must be used by internal methods or derived
classes methods.
Inheritance cohesion
Concerned with how classes are interrelated.
Differentiate coupling and cohesion?
Coupling deals with interactions between objects or software components while cohesion
deals with the interactions within a single object or software component. Highly cohesive
components can lower coupling because only a minimum of essential information need to
b passed between components.
What are some characteristics of a bad design?
The five rules are,
If it looks messy, then its probably a bad design.
If it is too complex, then its probably a bad design.
If it is too big, then its probably a bad design.
If people dont like it, then its probably a bad design.
If it doesnt work, then its probably a bad design.
Describe Rumbaughs Object Modeling Technique?
Describes the dynamic behavior of objects in a system.
Four phases.
_ Analysis results are objects, dynamic and functional models.
System design gives a structure of the basic architecture.
Object design produces a design document.
Implementation produces reusable code.
Three different parts
Object Model presented by object model and the data dictionary.
Dynamic model - presented by the state diagrams and event flow
diagrams.
_ Functional Model presented by data flow and constraints.
Give detailed notes about the Booch Methodology?
Helps to design your system using the object paradigm.
Is criticized for his large set of symbols.
Consists of the following diagrams:
Class diagrams.

Object diagrams.
State transition diagrams.
Module diagrams.
Process diagrams.
Interaction diagrams.
Two processes:
Macro development process
Micro development process.
Macro development process.
Primary concern technical management of the system.
Steps involved:
o Conceptualization.
o Analysis and development of the model.
o Design or create the system architecture.
o Evolution or implementation.
o Maintenance.
Micro development process.
Describes the day-to-day activities.
Steps involved:
o Identify classes and objects.
o Identify classes and object semantics.
o Identify classes and object relationships.
o Identify classes and object interfaces and implementation.
Give a detailed account of Jacobson methodology?
Covers the entire life cycle and stress traceability between the various phases.
Use cases
_ Scenarios for understanding system requirements.
_ Non formal text with no clear flow of events.
_ Text easy to read.
_ Formal style using pseudo code.
Can be viewed as concrete or abstract (not initiated by actors).
Object oriented software Engineering: Objectory
Use case model.
Domain Object Model.
Analysis Object Model.
Implementation model.
Test model.
Object oriented business Engineering
Analysis phase.
Design and Implementation phase.
_ Testing phase.
What is UML? UML is Unified Modeling Language. It is a graphical language for visualizing specifying
constructing and documenting the artifacts of the system. It allows you to create a blue print of all the
aspects of the system, before actually physically implementing the system.

What is modeling? What are the advantages of creating a model? Modeling is a proven and wellaccepted engineering technique which helps build a model. Model is a simplification of reality; it is a
blueprint of the actual system that needs to be built. Model helps to visualize the system. Model helps to
specify the structural and behavior of the system. Model helps make templates for constructing the system.
Model helps document the system.
What are the different views that are considered when building an object-oriented software
system? Normally there are 5 views. Use Case view - This view exposes the requirements of a system.
Design View - Capturing the vocabulary. Process View - modeling the distribution of the systems processes
and threads. Implementation view - addressing the physical implementation of the system. Deployment view
- focus on the modeling the components required for deploying the system.
What are diagrams? Diagrams are graphical representation of a set of elements most often shown made
of things and associations.
What are the major three types of modeling used? Major three types of modeling are structural,
behavioral, and architectural.
Mention the different kinds of modeling diagrams used? Modeling diagrams that are commonly
used are, there are 9 of them. Use case diagram, Class Diagram, Object Diagram, Sequence Diagram,
statechart Diagram, Collaboration Diagram, Activity Diagram, Component diagram, Deployment Diagram.
What is Architecture? Architecture is not only taking care of the structural and behavioral aspect of a
software system but also taking into account the software usage, functionality, performance, reuse, economic
and technology constraints.
What is SDLC? SDLC is Software Development Life Cycle. SDLC of a system included processes that are
Use case driven, Architecture centric and Iterative and Incremental. This Life cycle is divided into phases.
Phase is a time span between two milestones. The milestones are Inception, Elaboration, Construction, and
Transition. Process Workflows that evolve through these phase are Business Modeling, Requirement
gathering, Analysis and Design, Implementation, Testing, Deployment. Supporting Workflows are
Configuration and change management, Project management.
What are Relationships? There are different kinds of relationships: Dependencies, Generalization, and
Association. Dependencies are relations ships between two entities that that a change in specification of one
thing may affect another thing. Most commonly it is used to show that one class uses another class as an
argument in the signature of the operation. Generalization is relationships specified in the class subclass
scenario, it is shown when one entity inherits from other. Associations are structural relationships that are: a
room has walls, Person works for a company. Aggregation is a type of association where there is a has a
relation ship, That is a room has walls, o if there are two classes room and walls then the relation ship is
called a association and further defined as an aggregation.
How are the diagrams divided? The nine diagrams are divided into static diagrams and dynamic
diagrams.
1. Static Diagrams (Also called Structural Diagram): Class diagram, Object diagram, Component
Diagram, Deployment diagram.
2. Dynamic Diagrams (Also called Behavioral Diagrams): Use Case Diagram, Sequence Diagram,
Collaboration Diagram, Activity diagram, Statechart diagram.

3.
4.

5.
6.

7.

What are Messages? A message is the specification of a communication, when a message is

passed that results in action that is in turn an executable statement.
What is an Use Case? A use case specifies the behavior of a system or a part of a system, se
cases are used to capture the behavior that need to be developed. It involves the interaction of
actors and the system.
What are Relationships in UML?
Dependency
Dependency is the relationship between two things in which a change in one thing may affect the
other thing, but not necessarily the reverse. Graphically, it can be represented as a dashed directed
line, directed to the thing being depended on.
Association
An association is a relationship that connects classes. Example of association is relationship
between
person
and
company. An
association
is
rendered
as
solid
line.
Adornments

of

association

Name: You
can
use
Name
to
specify
the
nature
of
association
Role: Each class has specific role that participates in the relationship. We can specify role to the
classes
involve
in
the
relationship.
Multiplicity: It represents how many objects may be connected across an instance of an
association.
Aggregation: It implies whole/part relationship where one class represents larger thing which
consists
of
smaller
things.
Generalization
In this type of relationship, the child shares the structure and behavior of the parent. It is
represented as a solid line with a hollow arrowhead pointing to the parent.

Deployment diagram
Deployment Diagram shows the configuration of run time processing nodes and the components that live
on them. It is used for modeling topology of the hardware on which your system executes.
Contents
Nodes,
Dependency.

of

the

diagram

are

Define UML?
Unified Modeling Language, a standard language for designing and documenting a
system in an object-oriented manner. It has nine diagrams which can be used in
design document to express design of software architecture.

(I) Can you explain use case diagrams?

Use case diagram answers what system does from the user point of view. Use case
answer What will the system do?. Use cases are mainly used in requirement
document to depict clarity regarding a system. There are three important parts in a
use case scenario, actor and use case.
Scenario: A scenario is a sequence of events which happen when a user interacts
with the system.

Actor: Actor is the who of the system, in other words the end user.
Use Case: Use case is task or the goal performed by the end user. Below figure Use
Case shows a simple scenario with Actor and a Use Case. Scenario represents an
accountant entering accounts data in the system. As use cases represent action
performed they are normally represented by strong verbs.
Actors are represented by simple stick man and use case by oval shape as shown in
figure Use Case below.

Figure: Use Case

(I) Can you explain primary and secondary actors?

Actors are further classified in to two types primary and secondary actors. Primary
actors are the users who are the active participants and they initiate the user case,
while secondary actors are those who only passively participate in the use case.

(I) How does a simple use case look like?

Use cases have two views of representation in any requirement document. One is
the use case diagrams and the other is a detail step table about how the use case
works. So its like a pair first an over view is shown using a use case diagram and
then a table explaining the same in detail. Below is a simple login use case shown
diagrammatically and then a detail table with steps about how the use case is
executed.

Figure: Login Use Case

Use Case

Rel001

Use Case Name Login

Description

This uses depicts the flow of how user will log-in into the chat application.

Primary Actor

Simple chat user.

Trigger

User types chat application on URL of the browser.

Pre-condition

NA

Assumption

No
password
is
currently
present
for
the
system
Rooms will remain constant as explained in the assumption section of this
document

Failed
End
Duplicate user name is not allowed in the chat application.
conditions
Action
Main Scenario

User clicks on the log-in button.

User types chat application on URL of the browser which in turn

opens the main page.

In the main page of application user is popped up with Enter user

name option and various rooms option drop down menu.

User then types the name and selects one of the room from drop

down menu and then clicks on the Log-in button.

Application then checks whether the user name is unique in the
system if not then user is popped up with error message that user

already exist.

After entering the unique name the user is finally logged in the
application.

Action

NA

Alternate
Scenario

NA

Success
Scenarios

1. Opens page of a selected room in that other user names and their
messages can be seen.

Note and Open

NA
Issues
Table: Login use case table
Note: You must be wondering why we have this pair why not just a use case table
only. Use case diagrams are good to show relationship between use case and they
also provide high over view. The table explanation of a use case talks details about
the use case. So when a developer or a user is reading a requirement document, he
can get an overview by looking at the diagram if he is interested he can read the use
case tables for more details.

(I) Can you explain Extend and Include in use cases?

Extend and Include define relationships between use cases. Below figure Extend
and Include shows how these two fundamentals are implemented in a project. The
below use case represents a system which is used to maintain customer. When a
customer is added successfully it should send an email to the admin saying that a
new customer is added. Only admin have rights to modify the customer. First lets
define extend and include and then see how the same fits in this use case scenario.
Include: Include relationship represents an invocation of one use case by the other.
If you think from the coding perspective its like one function been called by the other
function.
Extend: This relationship signifies that the extending use case will work exactly like
the base use case only that some new steps will inserted in the extended use case.
Below figure Extend and Include shows that add customer is same as the add
discounted customer. The Add discounted customer has an extra process, to define
discount for the discounted customer which is not available for the simple customer.
One of the requirements of the project was that when we add a customer, the
system should send an email. So after the customer is added either through Add

simple customer use case or Add discounted customer use case it should invoke
send a email use case. So we have defined the same with a simple dotted line with
<<include>> as the relationship.

Figure: Extend and Include

Note: One of the points to be noted in the diagram Extend and Include is we have
defined inheritance relationship between simple and admin user. This also helps us
defining a technical road map regarding relationships between simple and admin
user.

(I) Can you explain class diagrams?

Class diagram
Class is basically a prototype which helps us create objects. Class defines the static
structure of the project. A class represents family of an object. By using Class we can
create uniform objects.
In the below figure you can see how the class diagram looks. Basically there are
three important sections which are numbered as shown in the below. Lets try to
understand according to the numbering:

Class name: This is the first section or top most section of the Class which

represents the name of the Class (clsCustomer).

Attributes: This is the second section or the middle section of the class which

represents the properties of the system.

Methods: This section carries operation or method to act on the attributes.

Figure: Three sections of the class

Now in the next section we will have a look on Association relationship between
these classes.

(B) How do we represent private, public and protected in class

diagrams?
In order to represent visibility for properties and methods in class diagram we need
to place symbols next to each property and method as shown in figure Private,
Public and Protected. + indicates that its public properties/methods. -indicates
private properties which means it can not be accessed outside the class. # indicate
protected/friend properties. Protected properties can only be seen within the
component and not outside the component.

Figure: Private, public and protected

(I) what does associations in a class diagram mean?

Associations in Class diagrams
A single Class cannot represent the whole module in a project so we need one or
more classes to represent a module. For instance, a module named customer detail
cannot be completed by the customer class alone , to complete the whole module we
need customer class, address class, phone class in short there is relationship
between the classes. So by grouping and relating between the classes we create
module and these are termed as Association. In order to associate them we need to
draw the arrowed lines between the classes as shown in the below figure.
In the figure Order is paid by payments class, we can see Order class and the
Payment class and arrowed line showing relationship that the order class is paid
using payment class in other words order class is going to be used by payment class
to pay the order. The left to right marked arrow basically shows the flow that order
class
uses
the
payment
class.
In case payment class using the order class then the marked arrow should be right
to left showing the direction of the flow.

Figure:- Order is paid by Payments class

There are four signs showing the flow:-

Figure: Direction signs in UML

Multiplicity
Multiplicity can be termed as classes having multiple associations or one class can be
linked to instances of many other classes. If you look at the below figure the

customer class is basically associated with the address class and also observes the
notations (*, 0 and 1).If you look at the right hand side the (1.*) notation indicates
that at least one or many instance of the address class can be present in the
customer class. Now towards left hand side we have (0.*) notation indicating that
address class can exist without or many customer class can link him.
In order to represent multiplicity of classes we have to show notations like (1.*),
(0.*) as shown in below figure.
Note: * means many where as (0, 1) means (zero or at least one)
respectively.

Figure: Multiplicity in Classes

(I) Can you explain aggregation and composition in class diagrams?

In this Association there are two types mainly Aggregation Association and
Composition Association.
Aggregation Association signifies that the whole object can exist without the
Aggregated Object. For example in the below figure we have three classes university
class, department class and the Professor Class. The university cannot exist without
department which means that university will be closed as the department is closed.
In other words lifetime of the university depend on the lifetime of department.
In the same figure we have defined second Association between the department and
the Professor. In this case, if the professor leaves the department still the
department continues in other words department is not dependent on the professor
this is called as Composition Association.
Note: The filled diamond represents the aggregation and the empty diamond
represents the composition. You can see the figure below for more details.

Figure: Aggregation and composition in action

(A) What are composite structure diagram and reflexive association

in class diagrams?
Composite structure diagram
When we try to show Aggregation and Composition in a complete project the
diagram becomes very complicated so in order to keep it simple we can use
Composite structure diagram. In the below figure we have shown two diagrams one
is normal diagram other is Composite structure diagram and the simplicity can easily
be identified. In the composite diagram the aggregated classes are self contained in
the main class which makes it simpler to read.

Figure: Composite Structure diagram

Reflexive associations
In many scenarios you need to show that two instances of the same class are
associated with each other and this scenario is termed as Reflexive Association. For
instance in the below figure shows Reflexive Association in the real project. Here you
can see customer class has multiple address class and addresses can be a Head
office, corporate office or Regional office. One of the address objects is Head office
and we have linked the address object to show Reflexive Association relationship.
This is the way we can read the diagram Regional address object is blocked by zero
or one instance of Head office object.

Figure: Reflexive association

(I) Can you explain business entity and service class?

Business entity objects represent persistent information like tables of a database.
Just making my point clearer they just represent data and do not have business
validations as such. For instance below figure Business entity and service shows a
simple customer table which with three fields Customer Code, Customer Address
and Phone Number. All these fields are properties in ClsCustomer class. So
ClsCustomer class becomes the business entity class. The business entity class by
itself can not do anything its just a place holder for data. In the same figure we have
one more class ClsServiceCustomer. This class aggregates the business entity class
and performs operations like Add, Next (Move to next record), Prev (Move to
previous record) and GetItem (get a customer entity depending on condition).
With this approach we have separated the data from the behavior. The service
represents the behavior while the business entity represents the persistent data.

Figure:-Business entity and service

(I) Can you explain System entity and service class?

System entity class represents persistent information which is related to the system.
For instance in the below figure System entity and service class we have a system
entity class which represents information about loggedindate and loggedintime of
the system registry. System service class come in two flavors one is it acts like a
wrapper in the system entity class to represent behavior for the persistent system
entity data. In the figure you can see how the ClsAudit system entity is wrapped by
the ClsAuditSytem class which is the system service class. ClsAuditSystem adds
Audit and GetAudit behavior to the ClsAudit system entity class.

Figure: System entity and service class

The other flavor of the system service class is to operate on non-persistent
information. The first flavor operated on persistent information. For instance the
below figure Non-persistent information shows how the class ClsPaymentService
class operates on the payment gateway to Check is the card exists , Is the card valid
and how much is the amount in the card ?. All these information are non-persistent.
By separating the logic of non-persistent data in to a system service class we bring
high reusability in the project.

Figure: Non-persistent information

Note: The above question can be asked in interview from the perspective of how you
have separated the behavior from the data. The question will normally come twisted
like How did you separate the behavior from the data?.

(B) Can you explain generalization and specialization?

Generalization and Specialization
In Generalization and Specialization we define the parent-child relationship between
the classes. In many instance you will see some of the classes have same properties
and operation these classes are called super class and later you can inherit from

super class and make sub classes which have their own custom properties. In the
below figure there are three classes to show Generalization and Specialization
relationship. All phone types have phone number as a generalized property but
depending upon landline or mobile you can have wired or simcard connectivity as
specialized property. In this diagram the clsphone represent Generalization whereas
clslandline and clsmobile represents specialization.

Figure: Generalization and Specialization

(B) How do we represent an abstract class and interface UML?

Interface is represented by <<type>> in the class diagram. Below figure Interface
in action shows we have defined an interface IContext. Note the <<type>>
represents an interface. If we want to show that the interface is used in a class we
show the same with a line and a simple circle as shown in figure Interface in Action
below.

Figure: Interface in action

Abstract classes are represented by {abstract} as shown in figure Abstract classes
in action.

Figure: Abstract classes in action.

(B) How do we achieve generalization and specialization?

By using inheritance.

(I) Can you explain object diagrams in UML?

Class represents shows the static nature of the system. From the previous question
you can easily judge that class diagrams shows the types and how they are linked.
Classes come to live only when objects are created from them. Object diagram gives
a pictorial representation of class diagram at any point of time. Below figure Object
diagram shows how a class looks in when actual objects are created. We have shown
a simple student and course relationship in the object diagram. So a student can
take multiple courses. The class diagram shows the same with the multiplicity
relationship. We have also shown how the class diagram then looks when the objects
are created using the object diagram. We represent object with Object Name: Class
Name. For instance in the below figure we have shown Shiv : ClsStudent i.e Shiv is

the object and ClsStudent the class. As the objects are created we also need to
show data of the properties, the same is represented by PropertyName=Value i.e.
StudentName=Shiv.

Figure: Object diagrams

The diagram also states that ClsStudent can apply for many courses. The same is
represented in object diagram by showing two objects one of the Computer and the
other of English.
Note: Object diagrams should only be drawn to represent complicated relationship
between objects. Its possible that it can also complicate your technical document as
lot. So use it sparingly.

(I) Can you explain sequence diagrams?

Sequence diagrams
Sequence diagram shows interaction between objects over a specific period time.
Below figure 'Sequence diagram' shows how a sequence diagram looks like. In this
sequence diagram we have four objects 'Customer','Product','Stock' and 'Payment'.
The message flow is shown vertically in waterfall manner i.e. it starts from the top
and flows to the bottom. Dashed lines represent the duration for which the object will
be live. Horizontal rectangles on the dashed lines represent activation of the object.
Messages sent from a object is represented by dark arrow and dark arrow head.
Return message are represented by dotted arrow. So the figure shows the following
sequence of interaction between the four objects:

Customer object sends message to the product object to request if the

product is available or not.

Product object sends message to the stock object to see if the product exists

in the stock.
Stock object answers saying yes or No.
Product object sends the message to the customer object.
Customer object then sends a message to the payment object to pay money.
Payment object then answers with a receipt to the customer object.

One of the points to be noted is product and stock object is not active when the
payment activity occurs.

Figure: Sequence diagram

Messages in sequence diagrams
There are five different kinds of messages which can be represented by sequence.
Synchronous and asynchronous messages
Synchronous messages are represented by a dark arrow head while asynchronous
messages are shown by a thin arrow head as shown in figure Synchronous and
Asynchronous.

Figure: Synchronous and Asynchronous

Recursive message
We have scenarios where we need to represent function and subroutines which are
called recursively. Recursive means the method calling himself. Recursive messages
are represented by small rectangle inside a big rectangle with an arrow going from
the big rectangle to the small rectangle as shown in figure Recursive message.

Figure: Recursive message

Message iteration
Message iteration represents loops during sequences of activity. Below figure
message iteration shows how order calls the orderitem objects in a loop to get
cost. To represent loop we need to write For each <<object name>>. In the below
figure the object is the orderitem. Also note the for each is put in a box to
emphasize that its a loop.

Figure: Message iteration

Message constraint
If we want to represent constraints it is put in a rectangle bracket as shown in figure
message constraint. In the below figure message constraint the customer object
can call book tickets only if the age of the customer is greater than 10.

Figure: Message constraint

Message branching
Below figure message branching shows how customer object have two branches
one is when the customer calls save data and one when he cancels the data.

Figure: Message branching

Doing Sequence diagram practically
Lets take a small example to understand sequence diagram practically. Below is a
simple voucher entry screen for accounts data entry. Following are the steps how the
accountant will do data entry for the voucher:

Accountant loads the voucher data entry screen. Voucher screen loads with
debit account codes and credit account codes in the respective combo boxes.

Accountant will then fill in all details of the voucher like voucher description,

date, debit account code, credit account code, description, and amount and
then click add voucher button.
Once add voucher is clicked it will appear in the voucher screen below in a

grid and the voucher entry screen will be cleared and waiting for new voucher
to be added. During this step voucher is not added to database its only in the
collection.
If there are more vouchers to be added the user again fills voucher and clicks

add voucher.
Once all the vouchers are added he clicks submit voucher which finally adds
the group of vouchers to the database.

Below figure Voucher data entry screen shows pictorially how the screen looks like.

Figure: Voucher data entry screen

Figure Voucher data entry sequence diagram shows how the sequence diagram
looks like. Below diagram shows a full sequence diagram view of how the flow of the

above screen will flow from the user interface to the data access layer. There are
three main steps in the sequence diagram, lets understand the same step by step.
Step 1:- The accountant loads the voucher data entry screen. You can see from the
voucher data entry screen image we have two combo boxes debit and credit account
codes which are loaded by the UI. So the UI calls the Account Master to load the
account code which in turn calls the data access layer to load the accounting codes.
Step 2:- In this step the accountant starts filling the voucher information. The
important point to be noted in this step is that after a voucher is added there is a
conditional statement which says do we want to add a new voucher. If the
accountant wants to add new voucher he again repeats step 2 sequence in the
sequence diagram. One point to be noted is the vouchers are not added to database
they are added in to the voucher collection.
Step 3:- If there are no more vouchers the accountant clicks submit and finally adds
the entire voucher in the database. We have used the loop of the sequence diagram
to show how the whole voucher collection is added to the database.

(I) Can you explain collaboration diagrams ?

Collaboration

diagrams

Collaboration diagrams provide the same information as shown by sequence diagram but they show

it in a different way. In sequence diagram we pay more attention to the time and sequence order,
but in collaboration diagram we pay more emphasis on the interaction messages between the
objects.
Figure Collaboration diagrams shows how a collaboration diagram looks like. Below are some points
you

can

easily

pick

Objects

up

looking

are

at

represented

the

figure:-

in

rectangle.

Messages are represented by an arrow and sequence number. For instance in figure collaboration
diagrams we can see the order product has a arrow which shows that the message is sent from
the

customer

object

Conditional

to

the

product

statements

and

are

represents

denoted

that

by

its

the

first

square

messages.

brackets

[.

We can also group sequence numbers by grouping them using decimals. For instance Pay by
master and Pay by Visa are all grouped in to message sequence number 3 (Do payment). So
they

are

denoted

by

3,3.1

and

3.2

respectively.

Figure: - Collaboration diagrams

You can represent the for each loop using the for each keyword as shown in below figure for each
in

collaboration.

Figure: - For each in collaboration

Note: - Try drawing a collaboration diagram for the same voucher data entry screen. Sequence and
collaboration diagrams are also called as iteraction diagrams.

(I) Can you explain activity diagrams?

Activity

diagrams

Activity diagram are used to capture complicated process flows in a system. Below figure Activity
shows a simple activity diagram. Some of the points which you can easily note from the activity
diagram

figure

Start
End

of

of

an

an

activity

Activities

are

activity
is

denoted
denoted

is
by

are:denoted

a
by

dark

by
circle
simple

a
inside
oval

dark
a

circle.

white

circle.

rectangles.

Figure: - Activity
A decision in activity diagram is as shown figure Decision in Activity Diagram. Figure shows the
condition in a [ (Square bracket). So the first activity is Check Age, if the age is greater than 16
then we can go for Adult Movie activity or else we need to execute the Kids Movie activity.

Figure: - Decision in Activity Diagram

There are situations in project where we need to execute two parallel activities in a project. A solid
bold line represents from where the activities will split and execute in parallel and then again a solid
line is where the parallel activities will meet. For instance in the below figure Parallel Processing we
can see how Make lemon juice and Make Ginger Juice activities are executed in parallel.

Figure: - Parallel Processing

In big and complex activity diagrams its very difficult to figure out which object is responsible for
which activities. This problem is solved by Swimlanes. Consider the below figure Without
Swimlanes. The whole activity diagram looks very complex and its very difficult to figure out which
object

is

responsible

for

which

activity.

Figure: - Without Swimlanes

Now see the below figure With Swimlanes we have partitioned the activity to the respective objects
like Customer, Stock, Order processing, Payment and Invoice. These partitions are termed as
Swimlanes , so if you feel that the activity diagram is complex think about using Swimlanes it can
really

make

your

activity

diagram

readable.

Figure: - With Swimlanes

(I) What is state chart diagram?

State

Chart

Diagram

State diagram depicts different states that an object goes through during their life cycle. State
diagram depicts how an object responds to events. We think state diagrams as optional and should
be used if your project has scenarios where the object goes through lot of complicated states and
transitions. If your project does not have such kind of scenarios then sequence, collaboration or
activity would be sufficient to meet your needs. So all objects have states and an object moves from
one

state

to

other

state

when

there

is

some

event

or

transition.

There are three important things when we consider state of an object event, guard and action. Lets
first

define

Action:

Action

Event:

these
triggers

Guard:

Guard

is

an

three
object

Event
condition

on

state

things:
from

one

triggers
which

it

evaluates

state

to

the
which

action

.
another.
action.

to

be

triggered.

These three things are principle component of state chart diagrams. Below figure Types of event
and

action

shows

how

they

are

represented

in

state

chart

diagrams.

Figure: - Types of Event and Action

There

are

three

ways

by

which

we

can

represent

the

same.

Type 1:- This methodology of writing is used when we need to map an event with action using a
guard. For instance in the above figure Types of Event and Action shows the event mouse click,
guard

double

click

and

the

resulting

action

open

folder.

Type 2:- The guard is optional. For instance sometimes we only have events and actions, i.e. with
out the guard. For instance when the even On happens the action is that Light Bulb is on.
Type 3:- This type of representation shows an infinite loop for an action. For instance the Watch
will be running infinitely during a state, as shown in figure Type of Event and Action.
Now that we know how to write event, actions and guard, lets see how state diagram looks like.
Below figure State example shows how a state looks like. Its an oval rectangle as shown below. In
order to show a transition we need to show an arrow from one state to other state as shown in
figure

State

example.

Figure: - State example

Below figure Sample state chart shows a simple state chart diagram. Some points which are
immediately

visible

from

the

diagrams

are

as

follows:-

A
A

dark

dark

black

circle

Circular

with

arrow
a

rectangle

indicates

white

circle

indicates

start

of

outside

indicates

while

arrows

state

state

end

of

indicate

chart

state

diagram.

chart

events

diagram.

transitions.

Figure: - Sample state chart

State is represented as shown in figure Basic element of state diagram. Its a simple rectangle
which is rounded. In the top section we give the state name. The below section is optional which
has do/action. It represents a long running activity when the object goes through this state.

(I) Can you explain stereotypes in UML?

Stereotypes are a way to define variations on existing UML model. This variation is brought in to
place to extend UML in a consistent manner. They are displayed in double less than and double
greater than sign with a simple text as shown below. The below figure shows at the left hand side a
class diagram with out stereo types while the right hand side shows with stereo types. You can
easily make out how the class diagram is readable with stereo types. For instance the Customer()
can be mistaken for a method but we have clarified that its a constructor by using stereo types.

Figure: - Stereotypes
Below

are

some

of

<<Application>>:-

Used

<<Database>>

:-

<<Table>>

:-

<<Library>>

:-

services>>

reusable

:-

UI

types
system

database

table

software

stereo

A
Physical
A

used

represent

represents

:-

<<Executable>>

commonly

to

:-

<<File>>
<<Web

the

in

writing
a

in

with
file

while

which

Represents

database.
or

on

component

function.

a
can

application.
application.

in

library

UML.

folder.
be

web

executed.
service.

<<JDBC>>

:-

Java

database

connectivity

JAVA

API

to

connect

to

database.

<<ODBC>> :- Open database connectivity , a Microsoft API to connect to database.

(I) Can you explain package diagrams?

Packages are like folders in a system which allows you to logically group UML diagrams. They make
complex UML diagram readable. In actual projects they are used to logically group use cases and
classes. So we can say there are two types of package diagrams one is class package diagram and
other is use case package diagram. Package diagram depict a high level of overview for class and
use

cases.

Class package diagram: - Class package diagram are used to logical group classes. You can think
that package technically map to Package in JAVA and Namespaces in C# and VB.NET. Packages
are denoted by small rectangle on a big rectangle as shown in figure Package diagram. One of the
points to be noted is the stereotypes. We have numbered the figure so that we can understand it
better.
1 We are using the MVC (Model View controller) framework. So we have denoted this package
using the << Framework >> stereo type. Refer the commonly used stereo type table discussed in
the

previous

sections.

2 and 3 Book tickets is the second package which inherits from the MVC model. The stereo type
is

<<application>>

which

means

its

user

interface.

4 A simple line shows a link between two classes stating that one class package uses the other
class
5
6

package.

This

package
The

is
final

collection

of

package

the

booking
is

engine
the

library.
database.

Figure: - Package diagram

As said before packages are nothing but collection of logical classes or any UML entity. We have
shown the detail of the above package diagram. We should restrict from using package diagram for
showing the in depth architecture as it can become very complicated. For instance the below
diagram Detail Package diagram shows how complicated it can look if use the package diagram to
show in depth architecture. To avoid complication its good to only draw an over all diagram as

shown

in

Package

diagram.

Figure: - Detail Package diagram

Use case package diagram: - The way we have logically grouped classes we can also use the
package diagram to logically group use cases. Below figure shows how a use case package diagram
looks

like.

Figure: - Use Case Package

(B) Can you explain component diagrams?

Component diagrams achieve the same objective like package diagrams. They show the
dependencies among software components. Below figure Component diagram shows a sample
component diagram for simple data entry application which uses a web service to interact with the
database. We have numbered the steps to understand the details of the component diagram.
1

Two
Stereo

rectangles
types

are

are

shown

used

to

to

represent

denote

what

component

kind

of

system

of

a
it

system.

represents.

3 A line with a circle denotes an interface by which the external world can interact with the
component. For instance in the figure we have represented a Customer Web service which can is
interacted

by

using

Figure: - Component Diagram

XML.

(B) Can you explain deployment diagrams?

Deployment diagrams represents an overall static view of how software and hardware nodes in the
application. They show what the hardware is and which components are installed on which
hardware. In deployment diagram we represent the hardware with a solid box and simple
underlined text description showing which hardware is it. You can have more than one component
on a single hardware. So the browser is an application UI which resides on the workstation
computer and the database and web server resides on the web server hardware. Deployment
diagram can be more complex with firewalls, payment gateways, PDA devices, VPN etc.

Figure: - Deployment diagram

(I) Can you explain how UML flows in actual project?

In actual projects we do not draw all the diagrams. Every UML diagram is made for a purpose. It
completely depends on whats the nature of the project. In short you should ask yourself questions
like, is this diagram important, whats my need etc. So below is a flow which you can follow in your
project,

again

as

we

said it

depends

on

what

kind

of

scenario

you

want

to

depict.

Figure: - UML flow in actual projects

The

first

step

is

to

derive

use

cases

from

the

requirement

documents.

Once use cases are derived we need to decide the messages which will flow in the system. This
can be done using interaction diagrams. If you need to know the object creation life times we use
the sequence diagram and if we want to concentrate on the messages we use the collaboration

diagrams. So depending on scenario we need to make a choice which diagram we need to draw.
Now that we are clear about messages we can draw class diagrams to depict the static part of the
project

If

i.e.
we

find

any

complicated

class

classes.
relationships

we

draw

object

diagrams.

If we need to depict any complicated code we need to represent same with a activity diagram.
Finally to give an overview of the project we can use package diagram, component or deployment
diagram. As said before we can use combination of component and deployment diagram to give a
overview of the architecture.

And all the questions from previous university question papers.

All the Best!!!